Starlit Eyes
by Savannahbobanna
Summary: When Melanie notices Jamie has grown up a bit and isn't just a child, she introduces him to Rose, a soul from a different group of humans. Jamie finds himself hopelessly confused when he gets to know her better. What is it about Rose that is so compelling
1. Chapter 1

**I couldn't resist taking writing this story. It sorta just flew right out of my fingers.**

**Summary:** When a new group of humans gets to know the clan in the caves, Jamie figures it's just a chance to get to know more people. Trade and travel between the two groups are common, but Jamie likes to go out and visit for more than the thrill of being out of the caves. There is someone he can't seem to stay away from... someone not entirely human.

Jamie/OC

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"Jamie!" called Wanda. "The other group is here!" Wanda was at the end of the hall. Another group of humans was expected to arrive today. I was reading a book in Brandt and Aaron's room. It was my room too, but I still hadn't settled in yet. I put the book down and ducked out into the tunnel. Wanda was standing at the end, her hands swinging by her sides.

"Where's Mel?" I asked as I walked toward her.

"She already at the game room," answered Wanda. I took her hand when I reacher her. She looked up at me. "Have you grown even more since this afternoon?"

I smiled and brought myself up to my full fifteen-year-old height. She was so little in her new body. She said the same Wanda words though, so it was like nothing had ever changed. "Only an inch or two."

When I heard the clamor of our guests, I sped up. I was almost dragging Wanda behind me. There were other humans out there. It was so beyond our wildest dreams. Nobody here thought that there would be others that survived.

It got lighter as we approached the game room. I figured that Jeb must have wanted the room as bright as possible. He was a pretty hospitable host when he wanted to be. Sure, he'd shoot you if you got out of line, but that hardly ever happened.

When we turned into the game room I was shocked to see how many people were there. There had to be at least fifteen new humans there. The brandy that Jared had collected on his last raid was circling through the group like it was going out of style. It was a time for celebration.

"Wanda!" exclaimed Ian from the crowd. He left the others and came to greet us. He had a cup of brandy in his hand. "Try a sip of this," he said, giving the cup to Wanda. He kissed her on the cheek.

"Ian, I hate this stuff," sighed Wanda.

"Would I give it to you if I thought it'd hurt you?" he asked.

"Well, no, but..." said Wanda.

"Jamie!" called Mel. It was difficult to hear her over the chatter of the people in the room. I left Wanda and Ian to go find Melanie.

She was standing on the other side of the room. Jared was at her side, of course. She was talking with a girl who looked about my age. Mel waved me over.

"This is Rose. She's from the other group of humans. She's fifteen, just like you," said Melanie. Jared sighed and rolled his eyes, Melanie elbowed him in the stomach.

"Hi, Rose," I said, extending my hand. Her small hand almost drowned in mine. Her hair curled in long, dark spirals. It was tied back by a red ribbon, but some of the strands escaped, framing her face. Her skin was about the shade of Jared's. Her eyes were icy blue... and they had a reflective ring around them. She was thin, small. She looked sort of breakable.

"Oh, you're a soul," I said, surprised.

She nodded. So far, Rose didn't seem to be a big talker.

"Are you from the Flower Planet?" I asked. Rose sounded like a name from there, after all.

"No, actually. This is my first planet. My host was named Rose. I thought the name was nice, so I kept it." She shrugged. "I've heard the Flower Planet is wonderful, though. I don't figure I'll ever get to try it out," she said, grinning wryly.

"How do you like this one?" I asked.

"I love it," she gushed. "I've heard it's one of the most interesting planets, and from what I've experienced so far, I can't really argue."

"Would you argue even if it weren't?"

"Well, you have a point," she laughed. Her laugh was high, but in a pleasant way. Not shrill or anything. Just right. She brushed the stray pieces of hair out of her face.

"So, how far away do you guys live?" I asked.

"I'd say it's about twenty miles. I'm surprised we didn't know you were here! We live so close!" she exclaimed, throwing her hands into the air.

"That is crazy," I agreed.

"Rose, can you come here?" said a voice from the crowd. It was one of the new people.

"Bye, Jamie," she said, smiling sweetly. She melted into the group. I was strangely sad to see her go. I figured it was just because she was new.

I looked over to talk to Mel and Jared, but they weren't there. I shrugged and went to look for them.

They were standing just outside the game room. I interrupted a cozy little moment between them. Cozy little moment meaning make-out session. They had been sneaking off so often since Melanie got her body back, it was hardly anything new.

"Hey, guys, how long are the others going to be here?" I asked.

"They are going to stay for about two weeks. They want to rest and all that. And Jeb won't take no for an answer if they try to leave before that," said Jared, obviously irritated that I'd interrupted them.

"Sweet!" I said, smiling.

Melanie looked at me slyly. "How did you like Rose?" she asked.

"She was pretty cool. Why?"

"Oh, just wondering," she answered innocently. She must have been with Wanda too long. Mel was hardly ever innocent. She was lying.

"Mel," I pressed.

"I just think you guys would be cute together, that's all," she said, shrugging.

I cocked an eyebrow. "I'm fifteen."

"Since when does age matter?" she asked.

"Don't try and hook me up with people, Mel. It makes things all awkward," I said.

Jared laughed. "I don't think anything can be awkward with you, kid."

I shook my head and walked back into the game room. I decided I'd try and find Wanda and Ian. It'd be a miracle if Ian had even gotten Wanda to take a whiff of the brandy.

I was surprised to see that Wanda wasn't standing with Ian, but with Rose... and some other tall redheaded man. I went over and put my hand in Wanda's.

"Hi, Jamie," she said, smiling at me. "Have you met Rose?"

I grinned wryly. "I don't think we've met. I'm Jamie," I said, reaching out to shake her hand once again.

"Well, Jamie, I'm delighted to meet you."

"I would ask if you were from the Flower Planet, but I just don't think so. I'm not getting the Flower Planet vibe from you," I said, trying not to laugh.

"You're right! I'm not from the Flower Planet. You're so smart," she said. She began to grin.

"I _am_ known for my intellect around here," I boasted.

Wanda was looking at us like we were insane. "You make me wonder sometimes, Jamie. Anyway, this is Burns." She gestured to the tall man. "Burns Living Flowers."

"You're from the Fire Planet!" I exclaimed.

"That I am," he answered.

Before I could ask him any of my burning questions, Jeb called us to attention. "Alright, you lot. I figure it's time for some story telling."


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks to those of you who reviewed last time! **

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After Uncle Jeb explained how he found this place, it was time for the leader of the other group, James, to tell the story of how they escaped. He did it differently than Uncle Jeb did. He took questions.

"Where do you live?" asked Ian.

"We live about twenty miles south of here. We found an old mine that we live in. The souls shut it down right when they took it over and we decided that it would be a perfect place to hide out. It took a hell of a lot of work, though," said James. "We have more stairs than you can shake a stick at! Don't fall while you're walking, it's a long way to the bottom."

"How do you survive?" asked Kyle. He had Sunny clutched to his side. She was still unable to find Jodi, but I was beginning to think Kyle didn't mind as much as he used to. He liked feeling macho, and that was something Sunny definitely made him feel.

"We go out and raid, of course. We live a lot like you do. I'm shocked we didn't know about each other sooner. We never came this way before. All the important stuff was the other way," James answered. He was a tall man. He had black hair, but it was going gray at the temples.

"How did your souls find you?" asked Sunny. Speaking up was something she rarely ever did.

"Well, Burns was hiking. He didn't feel very... accepted in his town. People tended to avoid him because he was from the Fire Planet," said James.

"It's a fine place!" called Burns from the crowd. "I don't know why so many people get their panties in a bunch," he said a little quieter. I had a feeling I was going to like Burns.

"He liked the way the humans treated him better, I suppose. Even though we did put him through hell and back to see if he was leading a bunch of seekers to us," continued James. "And Rose, well, that's a funny story, that one. Her host didn't go away at first. It convinced her that the humans were better than the souls. Rose didn't believe her, but after being bombarded with memories, she was led to our little hide out."

I looked at Wanda and Melanie. Both of their mouth's hung right open. "What happened to her host?" asked Mel quietly.

"She disappeared," answered James simply.

After about an hour of questioning, Jeb announced that he was calling it quits. When Jeb called it quits, everyone called it quits. Our guests were staying in the game room, on all the spare bedding we had. A few of us were staying with them in there. Just because they were human didn't mean we had to trust them completely.

I walked back to the sleeping wing of the caves with Mel and Wanda. Jared and Ian were part of the group that stayed behind. Mel convinced them that the three of us would be okay if we spent _one_ night without them. I didn't even sleep with them anymore, so I didn't know what they were worrying about. I was going to stay with Mel and Wanda in Mel's room tonight, though.

Mel took one of my hands, Wanda took the other.

"That wasn't a very nice joke you played on my earlier," squeaked Wanda. Her new body made me laugh. She was so shy sometimes!

"We weren't doing it to be mean," I assured her, squeezing her hand. "I don't think Rose could be mean if she wanted to. She's a soul."

Mel looked at me. "I think it's time for a haircut," she said, totally changing the subject. Melanie was good at saying totally random things at totally random times.

I frowned. "I like my hair like this."

She shrugged. "It's your head. I just think you're more handsome with it cut shorter."

I laughed. "Since there are so many people I have to be handsome for," I replied. Melanie shrugged again.

When we got to Mel's room, we all but collapsed onto the bed. I loved meeting new people, but after a hard day's work, it was hard to even keep my eyes open.

"That's crazy about Rose," sighed Mel.

"I know. It was so strange to hear that the same thing happened to her. And I thought I was the only one," replied Wanda. "I am so glad you didn't disappear."

"Me too," I interjected.

"Me three," laughed Mel.

It was quiet then, and we were all asleep within minutes.

I was jolted into alertness when I felt something heavy, really heavy, land on my stomach.

"Wake up!" said Ian. He had jumped across the bed, landing on Wanda, Mel, and I.

"Oof," groaned Wanda. She was smiling, though.

"I'm sorry, doll!" exclaimed Ian. He shifted off of us and scooped Wanda into his arms. He looked so worried. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

She giggled. "It didn't hurt that bad!"

Mel rolled onto her side. "Five more minutes," she sighed.

Wanda, Ian, and I left the room, leaving Mel to her sleep. She had become quite the night owl lately. The only person who could get her up too early was Jared.

"Guess what's for breakfast," said Ian. We were walking towards the kitchen. The caves seemed particularly hot today. I could feel myself being steamed like a piece of broccoli.

"Smells like... bacon!" I exclaimed. I ran to the kitchen, leaving Wanda and Ian to get there at their own slow pace. Bacon was a rare treat, and I wanted to eat it as soon as possible. I piled a heaping plate full and took a seat.

I was right in the middle of shoveling a big heap of pig into my mouth when I heard someone talking to me.

"Good morning, Jamie," said Rose. She leaned on my table. Her hair was down, and I saw that it was very long. It stopped somewhere around her lower back.

I had to wait a second before responding. My mouth was full of bacony deliciousness, and I couldn't talk around it. "Morning, Rose," I finally replied. "Have a seat."

"Thanks," she said, heeding my request.

"Have you eaten yet?" I asked. I saw Ian and Wanda come in, but they looked at me and quickly averted their eyes. I saw Wanda whisper something to Ian. I had a feeling I knew what they were talking about.

"Yep! It took me forever to find this place. The only thing that kept my mind at ease was the smell of the yummy food," she said, smiling.

"Oh, nobody showed you where to go?" I asked.

"I was up earlier than the others were. I didn't want to wake them up," she said.

"I could show you around," I offered.

"That would be fantastic!"

There was something about Rose that I couldn't put my finger on. It was something that I needed to figure out soon.

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